I took my stepdaughter Katie Curran deer hunting for the first time on November 14, 2009. This is the youth hunt weekend the week before opening day of gun season this year. This hunt is on an undisclosed area here in Chelsea. The owners would like to keep it nameless but it is a completely legal hunting area.

We arrived in the stand about ten till six in the morning as the sky was just starting to lighten up. By 6:40 Katie had played on the I Pod about all she could stand for the morning and was going "I am board." I told her to lay back and take a nap and less than ten minutes later she was snoring. She woke up 20 minutes later and was fired up again.

We could hear the rustling of leaves all around us from "squirrels." About 7:30 there was a rustling coming through the woods sounding like a herd of horses. Then a doe, a fawn and a spike walked into the field. The doe then kept looking back over her shoulder into the woods. I told Katie there are some more does behind her she keeps watching for them.

I slide Katie's seat closer to the window so she could watch them better. Almost immediately a 4 point buck walked into the field and I was thinking she is going to get to take a buck. I was watching this 4 point walk on into the field when Katie excitedly said "BIG BUCK!" I slid back to look out the side window and sure enough there was a big buck. Looked like a nice 7 or 8 point from where I was sitting! At this point we were both excited, and we slid her back to get the gun in her hands. She got it up and steady on the window and pulled the trigger! (SEEMED LIKE FOREVER) I was watching out the side window and all the deer just turned and looked at us including the BIG BUCK! I assume she missed. We got her reloaded (by the way it was an old iron sight 30/30 lever action) and she took the second shot. Thank God he was still there. This one looked to be a hit as he bolted into the woods as the 4 point and others still stood there looking at us for a few more seconds. A few minutes later we went out looking and we found him about 75 yds out. When I started rolling him over I started counting points and I counted five on one side and thinking WOW she got a 9 point. Then when I got him on over it was a solid as near perfect as you can get 10 point. I could not believe it. She had taken a bigger deer than I ever had! Needless to say she has buck fever and is watching hunting shows now. Mr. O'Neal with O'Neal Taxidermy here in Chelsea Is doing the mount.

It was a blast and it could not have happened to a better daughter!

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